What will future of field service management look like?
Towards a safe and smart future of field service!
We have entered the New Year and it’s time to get back to work. After enjoying a good holiday season, let us talk business. 2018 is offering a bundle of opportunities. We hope your organisation is making most of it. If not, then don’t worry, this post will help you explore and implement the right strategies to grow your business. The newer approaches will help to realise the business goals of workforce monitoring, high customer satisfaction, cost savings and using the data.
Field service business has seen a tremendous growth. All thanks to the advancement in technology! We have come far from simple ‘try-to-fix-it-when-it-breaks’. Now, the focus has shifted to proactive service, increased visibility and informed customers. Automation and customer experience will drive the future of field service management. We expect a high-level of accuracy, accounting, and safety in the service business. Here’s future of field service management:
The most important thing about a technology is how it changes people.
-JARON LANIER, You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto
The future of field service will make it easier for the supervisors to schedule and dispatch the work, it will help the mobile workforce to work in a paperless environment and it will guarantee higher ROI using developments in AI (Artificial Intelligence) and IoT (Internet Of Things). YES, the benefits will be real and huge. The changing landscape of industry will welcome the following-
The TRULY Mobile Workforce
Modern field service demands more mobility and agility. Yet, most of the organisations have failed to achieve it. But, with the advent of smartphones, dedicated applications and AR (Augmented Reality), there is a new dawn for the field mobility. We can foresee the complete acceptance of mobile apps allowing the technicians to do their work on-the-go with all the information. And, a wealth of knowledge will support them to achieve higher productivity.
Though we haven’t seen much use of AR and VR (Virtual Reality) in field service, this year we expect quite a few developments. The moving workforce can soon be seen wearing those funky glasses to gather data and gain a solution to the problem. Along with that, route optimisation will help the companies to monitor the movement of the workforce, and plan the day for them. Thus, saving costs and time.
The DIGITAL Data Treasure
Data is important than ever. Data drives the whole concept of technologies like artificial intelligence and IoT. With the GDPR coming into force this year, businesses have to be extra careful with the date. The future of field service will see the accumulation of data in a more organised manner. For example, the entire customer history, equipment information and service routine are available to the technician for assessment.
Also, one of the biggest concerns of this industry is lack of experience. The aged workforce is getting retired and the knowledge is not being passed as desired. Now, every piece of information is stored on the automated platform. The service technicians can quickly understand and do their work. It also becomes easy to jump the gun with the virtual training modules based on AI.
The CLEVER Cloud
Unless you don’t belong to this world, it’s impossible if you haven’t heard about the Cloud. The booming Cloud technology has restructured the field service industry. And this year will witness the increased adoption of cloud. It frees the organisation from the clutches of specialised hardware and burden of long-term license costs. The Cloud-based software applications promote effortless administration.
The cloud technology reduces the scope of human errors. It allows automating rules for timely action. The data captured in the cloud platform helps the back-office staff to schedule jobs based on the location, availability and expertise of the workforce. Dispatching and managing work-orders is safe and independent of any device. In addition to that, these SaaS (Software as a Service) delivery models offer fast deployment, easy scalability and, flexible pricing.
The TALKING Assets
A small sensor can do big wonders – that’s IoT for you. Machine-to-machine communication will become evident this year. The chip or sensors within the assets and equipment pass the information to the application. This helps to take a proactive approach to maintenance. Rather than a technician going after a breakdown, IoT will ensure assets are in working condition by communicating with the cloud.
According to the forecast by the Predictive Maintenance, there will be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for Predictive Maintenance of 39% over the time frame of 2016-2022, with annual technology spending reaching US$10.96 Billion by 2022. It will reduce the maintenance costs. Moreover, it will increase the longevity of the equipment. There’s no extra manpower needed to keep a track of things.
The PERSONALISED Experience
Personalisation is the most-talked-about thing of the recent times. The most successful service businesses have laid a strong emphasis on personalised user experience. There is no substitute for customer happiness. The use of technology will help service organisations craft worthy customer experiences. For instance, allow to schedule, reschedule, cancel, and modify requests, get suggestions, customise, and self-help without depending on others.
As the cloud platform captures the entire history of customers, it is possible to use AI and help them with the best experience. Self-service apps is a groundbreaking innovation. A company can help the customers to manage their accounts and stay updated using their app at their own convenience. They can set their preferences and the company can offer those options with high-rate of successful sales.
Make a resolution for your business!
End the woes of old methodologies and begin a new journey towards progress. It is predicted that Field Service Management Market Size will be worth $4.1 Billion by 2025.Therefore, it is necessary to infuse automation. Ensure your customers, workforce and the business goals are on the same page. Take off with the technology and there’s no looking back then. We wish you a happy and successful new year! Feel free to connect with us to know more about advanced field service software solutions.
